Spokane7
50°
May 21, 2010 in City
Test your constitutional knowledge
Jim Camden
The Spokesman-Review
Tags:Declaration of IndependenceInitiative 1058Monte BenhamU.S. ConstitutionWashington State Constitution
A proposed ballot initiative would require all Washington schools to teach the relationships between Declaration of Independence, the U.S. and state Constitutions and for students to pass a test on those topics before graduating from high school. Think you already know those topics? Take a quick test:
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polistra on May 21 at 5:44 a.m.
That test was fairly hard. I got 24 right, but had to guess on some questions!
The proposed course would be more useful if it also outlines the gradual departure of the US from the Constitution, starting in 1803 with Marbury vs Madison; and if it specifically teaches kids to recognize the most common false statements about the Constitution. Many things commonly described as “unconstitutional” are in fact required by the document or not mentioned at all. Many things commonly described as “required by the constitution” are in fact prohibited or unstated.
empyrius on May 21 at 6:38 a.m.
I only scored 80%, without cheating even: obviously I should have allowed my alcohol hangover to subside before I started clicking answers . . .
But, I knew a couple of my answers were wrong before I even clicked my response; my Christian anarchism over-riding my objectivity naturally. For instance:
The Declaration of Independence had many practical effects. Which of the following is NOT one of them.
I picked the answer “It was used as a propaganda tool to explain the rebellion”.
I knew this was the wrong answer but I could not resist! And I did know that “It started the American Revolution”.
Another question I incorrectly answered was, “The Washington state Constitution says liberties come from” …, and I picked “natural law” whilst the “correct” answer is “The Supreme Ruler of the Universe”.
The Supreme Ruler of the Universe?!?
You mean I live in a state, albeit a nation which avers that “liberty” is an inalienable right bestowed upon humanity by “The Supreme Ruler of the Universe”?!?
And here I thought modern man had shed ourselves of medieval superstitions!
I don’t know what kind of “god” Americans worship, but the God of the Holy Bible demands adherence to a strict code of conduct, a code of conduct that is everything but “free”. That is why you evil Americans are, well …, evil! If we abided by biblical dictates we would be serving our fellow man, not predicating our very society upon money!
You can only serve one god, the One true God, thank you very much.
Evildoers!
liarsinnews on May 21 at 7:44 a.m.
May I say, the kids must learn to read, write, and do simple mathematics before they can be expected to understand the constitution. Too much fooling around in my opinion, and its time that the parents act like parents. Its also time we test the teachers and boot out the dead beat crybaby’s.
leekinny on May 21 at 7:51 a.m.
Not being from here the state constitution caused me problems.
In Illinois, back in the day, you could not graduate from the eighth grade or high school without passing a test on both the US and state constitution. Was that ever the case here? It’s a good idea for the kids to be taught this.
Scoutster on May 21 at 7:55 a.m.
empyrius…
I”m pretty sure the Supreme Ruler of the Universe posts here fairly regularly.
Scoutster on May 21 at 7:57 a.m.
It’s a question of interpretation, I would say, but it’s hard to imagine there would have been an American Revolution WITHOUT a Declaration of Independence.
I just hope this doesn’t go on my Permanent Record.
liarsinnews on May 21 at 8:05 a.m.
During the American Revolution our forefathers understood the Declaration of Independence. That`s more than many of our political pimps understand today.
misjustice on May 21 at 8:30 a.m.
I only scored an 84%…the state constitution questions tripped me up, I have never read Washington state’s constitution so was guessing on the answers.
leekinny, it was the same where I grew up, Ohio required a state history/civics class to pass from the 8th grade; had there been questions on the above quiz about Tippecanoe and Tyler Too, I’d have nailed it! (although the battle with the Shawnee was fought in Indiana, it was still a large part of ‘Ohio’ history)
I wonder what the debacle in Texas, the school book reformation process, will contribute to fancy schmancy book learnin’ in the next ten years?…Supreme Ruler of the Universe help us all!
MrNatural on May 21 at 9:13 a.m.
Dang!…good test…I didn’t know Washington’s constitution very well…very interesting spread of question choices…hats off to the developer of this questionnaire…thought provoking…
I’m now wondering what text book(s) they give to people who want to become American citizens. It would make interesting reading
bartm on May 21 at 9:46 a.m.
Did I miss something? Is it not Tim Eyman, Monte Benham, Mike Fagan, etc who CONSTANTLY cry out Indoctrination to stories like this? How’s this different from teaching school children about sustainability, environmental issues, or something like this - http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_096c26a8-0492-5969-8255-b813f811b504.html
Coffee on May 21 at 9:49 a.m.
Good idea.
flutieflakes on May 21 at 11:12 a.m.
I’ve lived in Washington for about 20 years, and know next to nothing about the state Constitution. And my life is no better or worse because of this.
SarahF on May 21 at 1:39 p.m.
Wow… I got 80% right, but I blame that on the fact that I’m a college student from Texas, and strangely enough, we didn’t have to learn the Washington state constitution in high school. :) But you guys have some… interesting things in there, don’t you?
SarahF on May 21 at 1:47 p.m.
As for the “It started the Revolution”, recall that the first battles in Massachusetts occurred a year before the Continental Congress even debated the Declaration. The first actual battles occurred in 1775, the Declaration was signed in 1776.
It can’t “start” something that was already happening at the time it was signed.
fishinjay on May 21 at 1:57 p.m.
Missed 4 questions, but 3 were on the WA Constitution and I live in ID. The other one was “how many Constitutions” have we had. Never even through a college degree in polysci have I ever heard of the Articles of Confederation refered to as a “constitution.”
Odd way to phrase the question. A more accurate question would have asked “How many governments has our nation had?”
misjustice on May 21 at 4:19 p.m.
FishinJ and SarahF; great points…both of those question were written poorly…
jimc on May 22 at 1:12 p.m.
FishinJ and misjustice: We didn’t make the questions up, we got them from various history sites that are dedicated to the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution and have quizzes or study guide materials for students and teachers. There are no sites with quizzes for the state Constitution, but we got help from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s power point presentation on the state Constitution.
As for the Articles of Confederation, it was a constitution that set up a relatively weak federal government, and the convention that wrote the current constitution was originally called to amend the articles. When the delegates got together, however, they decided to toss it out and start over.
Jim Camden/Spin Control
misjustice on May 22 at 3:27 p.m.
Jim, thanks for the information and for the quiz. I had fun testing my knowledge.
I still believe that the question asking how many Constitutions has the nation had was poorly written…I have never read/learned that the Articles of Confederation was the nation’s ‘first’ Constitution…perhaps because when the Articles were drawn up it was prior to our winning freedom from the British Crown…prior to our becoming a nation.
jimc on May 22 at 6:19 p.m.
misjustice,
Glad you enjoyed the quiz.
It may be a difference in where one went to school, but I was taught the articles of confederation were the first constitution. They were adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777, so you could argue whether we were a nation at that point, or not until the war ended, but they were in place after the end of the war until the new one was written.
But, as I said, we didn’t make the questions up, we got them from sites that specialize in American history.
Here’s a page from the Library of Congress that discusses the articles.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/articles.html